Boccieri calls health care No. 1 concern for Congress

Published: April 8, 2009 4:03AM

By BRYAN SCHAAF

Dix Communications

WOOSTER -- One of his campaign mottos that was government needed to be more concerned with Main Street than with Wall Street.

On Monday, U.S. 16th District Rep. John Boccieri, D-Alliance, spent time trying to get a clearer view of how business owners on Main Street feel about federal issues, answering questions from chamber of commerce members from Wooster, Orrville, Rittman and Ashland.

"We have a lot to be thankful for, but we also have a lot of challenges," Boccieri told the audience at Memories Party & Conference Center in Wooster. "This is a country with nearly $11 trillion in gross national product, a great expanse of trading partners and so many different issues that affect us on a daily basis.

"We need to understand the things we're doing in Washington are about making our country stronger, about making our people as educated as they can be and about projecting a future that shows growth, sustainability and invests in our greatest asset -- our people," he said.

Boccieri fielded questions about how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will affect health care and education locally, as well as cap-and- trade energy policies. Boccieri said one of President Barack Obama's "hard-charging issues" is to reduce inefficiencies in government.

One example he used dealt with the real-time accessibility of medical records, so providers outside of a patient's primary care physicians can gather those records and potentially reduce the number of expensive tests needed to determine a person's condition.

He said the president's budget has strategic investments in health care, energy and education.

"Health care issues right now, from small businesses to large corporations, is probably the single most important factor we have to address in Congress.

"I'm not for a government-run program, but what I'm for is ... a system that covers all people because if we don't, that diabetic who lost their job can no longer seek routine care with their physician. Now that ulcer on their foot gets worse and they have to go to the emergency room, and they end up costing all of us three and four times the cost than they would be if they went to their physician."

State Sen. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, asked exactly what tax breaks were included in Obama's stimulus bill, which Boccieri said were the largest in American history.